Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens USA

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

This is my favorite lens by far! I use this lens for my interview shots (I'm a videographer) and they always look great! It is well worth the price when you are investing in a lens you will use for the rest of your career!

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I decided to buy a copy of the Canon 35mm f1.4 L lens after using this lens a couple times on assignment. I primarily use this lens as a portrait lens although it does very well stopped down for use as a landscape lens. The primary element that drew me to the 35mm lens was it's strong construction and light weight. The fact that I am able to add a bit of the surrounding scene into my photos is a added bonus. This is not a lens that should be considered an all around lens, it does have it's limitations. Auto focusing can be difficult in very low light, so you will have to switch overt to manual focusing. Other then that critique which is to be expected when shooting in very dim light, I can't say there is anything else that I dislike about the lens at the moment.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

The 35 1.4 exceeded all my expectations. It shoots flowers, family and night cityscapes. The bokeh and color are stunning. You will not be disappointed.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

beyond in love with this lens. great for portrait photography.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I'm a wedding photographer and this lens is great for family shots, larger bridal parties, and even just to get a different angle with portraits. I love how wide it is, while not giving much distortion to the edges of the frame. I've started using it in regular portraits and it's great to get that super wide frame without having to back up too far.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

This was my very first L lens (by about a week when the 24-105 4L arrived). It made my Rebel XTi perform quite well! On my new 6d it is amazing. I got hooked on primes with the nifty 50 - and why can't they all have the same price to value ratio? I am very happy with the construction - it's built like a tank and has a ton of metal which is a rarity these days.

At any rate, I probably read every review on this site so I doubt mine will do a much better job. If you like the focal length, pony up and go with this lens, it doesn't disappoint.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

EF35 mm doesn't need much explaining - it is a splendid lens for street photography and with the f1.4 - it works day and night. Light weight and easy to handle.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

Love this lens. Super sharp and fast focus. would reccomend this to everyone.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

Love this lens already. Great for indoors and low light. Incredible quality.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

haven't used it much but the times i have, i loved it.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

It is tempting to shoot wide open for plenty of light and heavy defocus of back and foreground. If so then focus will be very demanding of skills and, to max quality out, tripod. But 1/ this is for all fast wides as this is laws of physics and 2/ if you close down a bit focus is easier to grab, and the sharpness also raises from sharp to wow katana sharp. If you remain wide open, you shoot low light without uggly flash with ease, just ease your expectations on the acuracy of focus you'll get if you're as bad as me. Color, contrast, bokeh, USM, construction, are all top notch. This lens serves as normal on my 7D and is solid! I take it for a great learning tool for photography to zoom with feet, learn to shoot wide open (the reason you dumped all this money on this lens) etc.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

This lens has taught me quite a few things.

The first thing I saw was chromatic aberration. I considered returning it because of it that, on stark contrasty edges of your subject, can be strong. It's not that wide in pixels, but its color impact is deep. I heavily documented to see if this was normal, if I had a good copy and all the usual. I however am typically trusting the quality and quality control of serious businesses such as Canon (and never had any defective gear from them) and feel that there are too many people around returning stuff because they feel it's "pro" to say you have a bad copy... So I researched bloggers photographers that I deem are pros, and they say it's there and it's as designed (hard to avoid in very bright wide angles). So I decided instead of worrying, to shoot with the lens to see if it helped me make nice pictures instead of looking at the CA. And oh my it did nice pictures! And so I became a happy camper instead of a grumpy pixel peeper.

The second thing I saw was the color. Colors are really good with this: warm, full, deep... It is true: I am not a pro but immediately saw the difference (compared with my trusted companion the 28-135 on a 7D).

Second I saw the sharpness. Never seen that before. At normal viewing it looks fantastic and almost 3D like (it pops) on a good screen. The color obviously helps that too. Prints look great too. At 100% you see pixels showing one object or another, with minimal fuss (aliasing) between. VERY sharp! Attention, DOF is shallow, your technique will be put to the test if you shoot wide open. Alongside fantastically sharp shots on tripod, I also got plenty of poor pictures as I was trying to get away with pulling off snapshots wide open in poor light, thinking a 4-digit-price-tag lens would suffice, but wrong, it's no more forgiving, and probably less even, than other glass. I have NOT tried hard yet on low light candid portraits (like shooting headshots in a party indoors) where it should do great, and where my EF 50mm f/1.4 does fantastic (but is a bit too long sometimes, remember I'm on a 7D). This 35 seems to be overall demanding of your technique and has no IS which would help in low light/slow shutter. I take it that it's helping me learn. It's a real lens.

Third I saw the effects of aperture. Every pro says it and if you never did, test for yourself as I did because that was another lesson. Yes you yield tons of light at 1.4 but you also get a blueish/greenish veil on contrasty/OOF subjects (like text) and very strong CA, where sometimes, "chrome" or "stainless steel brushed metal" can even appear green... So use that in low light only to grab the most light and where you're probably not making test shots to measure quality (like low light scenes or portrait, and you can go handheld even without IS at 1.4!). But close down to 5.6 or even 8 and you'll peel your eyes on the sharpness of this 35!

Forth, with aperture comes OOF blur, ranging from nasty yucky to beautiful bokeh. The later is the rule here with this 35. It is very easy to cast things OOF and the effect is both strikingly powerful, and beautiful. You can go razor thin on your DOF! Conveniently for many subjects (like daylight portrait) you can get gorgeous bokeh even at 2.8 or smaller to also get great sharpness and none of the 1.4 artifacts. OOF dots of light come out nice with this lens.

As far as focal length, it is 35 and gives me about 57mm field of view on my 7D since it is a 1.6 crop sensor. Call me silly to marry them, I don't think it's silly. The 7D has very high image quality, very capable of letting this lens express itself. Yes I paid for glass that makes a larger image circle than I capture. Yes it's big, heavy and expensive. Yes, full frame would give me more control on OOF. Yes blah blah. I don't care. I like the 35 today and if i add a full frame to my bag, I'll continue to like it :-) 57mm field of view is, I must admit, a tad long for "normal" and so, I might add a 28 or even 24.

Perspective: I'll keep the 35 because it'll let me get close to distort perspective and promote my foreground like a wide, or not, to get more flat and more adequate for portrait or general shots. At 57mm field of view and 35mm perspective, it's totally usable for portraits even if I'd prefer using my 135 f/2L if I have my tripod, remote, and 15 feet subject distance... The perspective, I believe, remains that of 35 mm even if the field of view indeed becomes 57mm, so this lens on a crop camera may not really be the best for classic portraits, unless you're not too close and shoot "flat".

The 7th thing i saw was: there is no zoom. Walk or compose. Yes, this is making me less lazy and think more about my shot. Maybe it is hype to say that, but it's true for me.

The 8th is: all the rest is top notch. Handling, construction, auto-focus, etc.

Today this lens is learning me what a prime is, makes me think and pushes me. I now understand aperture as I can play with it over a range I never had access to before and must learn to not always shoot 1.4 thinking it's where my dollars went, because they also went into all the rest. The quality is really amazing but not one dollar of this lens will make a better picture in your stead so expect nothing there (no lens will). I use it as a top notch tight normal prime and paired with my 10-22 makes a great kit. Add a 50 for tight (or of course longer for sports, animals etc.) to complete the kit. I think its resale value (not that I think I'll ever resell it) will remain fantastic especially if a version II eventually arrives, and that its value will be even more to me if I also have a full frame on which it'll be my wide. For now I'll continue learning from it and churning out an increasing ratio of shots that impress.

It's the real deal.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I love using primes. I work for a large healhcare corporation and I use primes as much as possible the Canon 35mm is great for indoor enviromental portraits.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I was in doubt of whether to get 35mm or 24 mm. I am happy with my decision. 35mm gives you the wide angle you need, but it still allows for some versatility if you want to get close. Sharp and fast lens. Get it.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I've been using the lens only for 2 weeks, hence, I cannot say for sure whether it's worth the price or not. Obviously, it's better than CANON EF 50 mm f/1.4 USM, but as my camera is 7D, I cannot take the full advantage of 35mm. I had to spent some time adapting for the image. You know, when you're used to some 50mm lens which gives about 70mm while used at your cropped camera, you need some time to learn how it'll look like with 35mm. But when I did, when I passed a few hours just taken shots of everything I saw on my way, I 'mastered' it. I know how it'll look like on my screen without taken a photo.
I really like the size and all the technical features. It's awesome. I'd say its weight is pleasing, you know, a real thing cannot be light, it should have some weight. And I like the result. It's good as a standard lens, which you take anywhere and technically can use for all the genres. It was great for street photo, quite fast for home shots of kids.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I purchased the lens about 2-3 weeks ago and finally had a chance to give it a run this past weekend in Boston with my new EOS 6D. While the shots I had taken with it before were amazing, this didn't disappoint me while walking around the city. I'm new to prime lenses but this is a great piece of glass. It's nice to be able to shoot outside and then go into lower light situations and open the lens and boost the iso and still be able to get great pictures. Colors are great, image quality is top notch. 1.4 is good but with some vignette but 2.8 is solid and 8 is perfect. Well worth the money.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

This lens is so dependable! Not only does it shoot great for low light situations but the quality of the lens is incredible. You can use this for portraits, group shots, reception etc. The sharpness of the glass creates a beautiful overall look. I think I would like to get the 50 mm Canon lens next since it is has a more portrait look than this 35 mm however this lens is very useful for many occasions!

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

this lens is sharp at 1.4! Lightweight and feels solid. Excellent bokeh and renders similar colors as the 135 f/2. really good as portrait lens too

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

Nice manual focus. Quick smooth auto focus. Good colors, but have edges go green

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I just bought the 50mm 1.2 and the 35mm 1.4 and I just feel that I made the best purchase ever !!!!!

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

This is my favorite lens by far! I use this lens for my interview shots (I'm a videographer) and they always look great! It is well worth the price when you are investing in a lens you will use for the rest of your career!

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I decided to buy a copy of the Canon 35mm f1.4 L lens after using this lens a couple times on assignment. I primarily use this lens as a portrait lens although it does very well stopped down for use as a landscape lens. The primary element that drew me to the 35mm lens was it's strong construction and light weight. The fact that I am able to add a bit of the surrounding scene into my photos is a added bonus. This is not a lens that should be considered an all around lens, it does have it's limitations. Auto focusing can be difficult in very low light, so you will have to switch overt to manual focusing. Other then that critique which is to be expected when shooting in very dim light, I can't say there is anything else that I dislike about the lens at the moment.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

The 35 1.4 exceeded all my expectations. It shoots flowers, family and night cityscapes. The bokeh and color are stunning. You will not be disappointed.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

beyond in love with this lens. great for portrait photography.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I'm a wedding photographer and this lens is great for family shots, larger bridal parties, and even just to get a different angle with portraits. I love how wide it is, while not giving much distortion to the edges of the frame. I've started using it in regular portraits and it's great to get that super wide frame without having to back up too far.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

This was my very first L lens (by about a week when the 24-105 4L arrived). It made my Rebel XTi perform quite well! On my new 6d it is amazing. I got hooked on primes with the nifty 50 - and why can't they all have the same price to value ratio? I am very happy with the construction - it's built like a tank and has a ton of metal which is a rarity these days.

At any rate, I probably read every review on this site so I doubt mine will do a much better job. If you like the focal length, pony up and go with this lens, it doesn't disappoint.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

EF35 mm doesn't need much explaining - it is a splendid lens for street photography and with the f1.4 - it works day and night. Light weight and easy to handle.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

Love this lens. Super sharp and fast focus. would reccomend this to everyone.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

Love this lens already. Great for indoors and low light. Incredible quality.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

haven't used it much but the times i have, i loved it.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

It is tempting to shoot wide open for plenty of light and heavy defocus of back and foreground. If so then focus will be very demanding of skills and, to max quality out, tripod. But 1/ this is for all fast wides as this is laws of physics and 2/ if you close down a bit focus is easier to grab, and the sharpness also raises from sharp to wow katana sharp. If you remain wide open, you shoot low light without uggly flash with ease, just ease your expectations on the acuracy of focus you'll get if you're as bad as me. Color, contrast, bokeh, USM, construction, are all top notch. This lens serves as normal on my 7D and is solid! I take it for a great learning tool for photography to zoom with feet, learn to shoot wide open (the reason you dumped all this money on this lens) etc.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

This lens has taught me quite a few things.

The first thing I saw was chromatic aberration. I considered returning it because of it that, on stark contrasty edges of your subject, can be strong. It's not that wide in pixels, but its color impact is deep. I heavily documented to see if this was normal, if I had a good copy and all the usual. I however am typically trusting the quality and quality control of serious businesses such as Canon (and never had any defective gear from them) and feel that there are too many people around returning stuff because they feel it's "pro" to say you have a bad copy... So I researched bloggers photographers that I deem are pros, and they say it's there and it's as designed (hard to avoid in very bright wide angles). So I decided instead of worrying, to shoot with the lens to see if it helped me make nice pictures instead of looking at the CA. And oh my it did nice pictures! And so I became a happy camper instead of a grumpy pixel peeper.

The second thing I saw was the color. Colors are really good with this: warm, full, deep... It is true: I am not a pro but immediately saw the difference (compared with my trusted companion the 28-135 on a 7D).

Second I saw the sharpness. Never seen that before. At normal viewing it looks fantastic and almost 3D like (it pops) on a good screen. The color obviously helps that too. Prints look great too. At 100% you see pixels showing one object or another, with minimal fuss (aliasing) between. VERY sharp! Attention, DOF is shallow, your technique will be put to the test if you shoot wide open. Alongside fantastically sharp shots on tripod, I also got plenty of poor pictures as I was trying to get away with pulling off snapshots wide open in poor light, thinking a 4-digit-price-tag lens would suffice, but wrong, it's no more forgiving, and probably less even, than other glass. I have NOT tried hard yet on low light candid portraits (like shooting headshots in a party indoors) where it should do great, and where my EF 50mm f/1.4 does fantastic (but is a bit too long sometimes, remember I'm on a 7D). This 35 seems to be overall demanding of your technique and has no IS which would help in low light/slow shutter. I take it that it's helping me learn. It's a real lens.

Third I saw the effects of aperture. Every pro says it and if you never did, test for yourself as I did because that was another lesson. Yes you yield tons of light at 1.4 but you also get a blueish/greenish veil on contrasty/OOF subjects (like text) and very strong CA, where sometimes, "chrome" or "stainless steel brushed metal" can even appear green... So use that in low light only to grab the most light and where you're probably not making test shots to measure quality (like low light scenes or portrait, and you can go handheld even without IS at 1.4!). But close down to 5.6 or even 8 and you'll peel your eyes on the sharpness of this 35!

Forth, with aperture comes OOF blur, ranging from nasty yucky to beautiful bokeh. The later is the rule here with this 35. It is very easy to cast things OOF and the effect is both strikingly powerful, and beautiful. You can go razor thin on your DOF! Conveniently for many subjects (like daylight portrait) you can get gorgeous bokeh even at 2.8 or smaller to also get great sharpness and none of the 1.4 artifacts. OOF dots of light come out nice with this lens.

As far as focal length, it is 35 and gives me about 57mm field of view on my 7D since it is a 1.6 crop sensor. Call me silly to marry them, I don't think it's silly. The 7D has very high image quality, very capable of letting this lens express itself. Yes I paid for glass that makes a larger image circle than I capture. Yes it's big, heavy and expensive. Yes, full frame would give me more control on OOF. Yes blah blah. I don't care. I like the 35 today and if i add a full frame to my bag, I'll continue to like it :-) 57mm field of view is, I must admit, a tad long for "normal" and so, I might add a 28 or even 24.

Perspective: I'll keep the 35 because it'll let me get close to distort perspective and promote my foreground like a wide, or not, to get more flat and more adequate for portrait or general shots. At 57mm field of view and 35mm perspective, it's totally usable for portraits even if I'd prefer using my 135 f/2L if I have my tripod, remote, and 15 feet subject distance... The perspective, I believe, remains that of 35 mm even if the field of view indeed becomes 57mm, so this lens on a crop camera may not really be the best for classic portraits, unless you're not too close and shoot "flat".

The 7th thing i saw was: there is no zoom. Walk or compose. Yes, this is making me less lazy and think more about my shot. Maybe it is hype to say that, but it's true for me.

The 8th is: all the rest is top notch. Handling, construction, auto-focus, etc.

Today this lens is learning me what a prime is, makes me think and pushes me. I now understand aperture as I can play with it over a range I never had access to before and must learn to not always shoot 1.4 thinking it's where my dollars went, because they also went into all the rest. The quality is really amazing but not one dollar of this lens will make a better picture in your stead so expect nothing there (no lens will). I use it as a top notch tight normal prime and paired with my 10-22 makes a great kit. Add a 50 for tight (or of course longer for sports, animals etc.) to complete the kit. I think its resale value (not that I think I'll ever resell it) will remain fantastic especially if a version II eventually arrives, and that its value will be even more to me if I also have a full frame on which it'll be my wide. For now I'll continue learning from it and churning out an increasing ratio of shots that impress.

It's the real deal.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I love using primes. I work for a large healhcare corporation and I use primes as much as possible the Canon 35mm is great for indoor enviromental portraits.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I was in doubt of whether to get 35mm or 24 mm. I am happy with my decision. 35mm gives you the wide angle you need, but it still allows for some versatility if you want to get close. Sharp and fast lens. Get it.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I've been using the lens only for 2 weeks, hence, I cannot say for sure whether it's worth the price or not. Obviously, it's better than CANON EF 50 mm f/1.4 USM, but as my camera is 7D, I cannot take the full advantage of 35mm. I had to spent some time adapting for the image. You know, when you're used to some 50mm lens which gives about 70mm while used at your cropped camera, you need some time to learn how it'll look like with 35mm. But when I did, when I passed a few hours just taken shots of everything I saw on my way, I 'mastered' it. I know how it'll look like on my screen without taken a photo.
I really like the size and all the technical features. It's awesome. I'd say its weight is pleasing, you know, a real thing cannot be light, it should have some weight. And I like the result. It's good as a standard lens, which you take anywhere and technically can use for all the genres. It was great for street photo, quite fast for home shots of kids.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I purchased the lens about 2-3 weeks ago and finally had a chance to give it a run this past weekend in Boston with my new EOS 6D. While the shots I had taken with it before were amazing, this didn't disappoint me while walking around the city. I'm new to prime lenses but this is a great piece of glass. It's nice to be able to shoot outside and then go into lower light situations and open the lens and boost the iso and still be able to get great pictures. Colors are great, image quality is top notch. 1.4 is good but with some vignette but 2.8 is solid and 8 is perfect. Well worth the money.

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

This lens is so dependable! Not only does it shoot great for low light situations but the quality of the lens is incredible. You can use this for portraits, group shots, reception etc. The sharpness of the glass creates a beautiful overall look. I think I would like to get the 50 mm Canon lens next since it is has a more portrait look than this 35 mm however this lens is very useful for many occasions!

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

this lens is sharp at 1.4! Lightweight and feels solid. Excellent bokeh and renders similar colors as the 135 f/2. really good as portrait lens too

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

Nice manual focus. Quick smooth auto focus. Good colors, but have edges go green

Comments about Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide-Angle Autofocus Lens:

I just bought the 50mm 1.2 and the 35mm 1.4 and I just feel that I made the best purchase ever !!!!!